


Waiting

by notquiteaphoenix



Category: Overwatch (Video Game), Zombies Run!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 13:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15365745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notquiteaphoenix/pseuds/notquiteaphoenix
Summary: The zombie apocalypse is all around them and still, nothing is worse than waiting.(Zombies Run fusion and mild crossover.)





	Waiting

The first month of Gabriel’s stint as a Radio Operator has been...rocky. Mostly because Yao is a surprisingly stubborn shit. Sure, Gabriel may be a bit possessive about his fellow Runners because he _knows_ what they do, what they need. Yao has been a Radio Operator for nearly as long as there has been an Abel but he’s never been a _Runner_.

There were a few loud arguments in the radio tower but now Gabriel and Yao have a deal, more or less. Whenever possible Gabriel covers Runner 76’s missions and Yao directs Runner 5. De Luca decides the rest of the mission schedules, with (minimal) complaining.

It goes pretty well until a top secret Ministry mission calls for  _both_ of Abel’s top Runners. Yao claims seniority. Gabriel calls bullshit and absolutely refuses to leave the comms until Janine De Luca herself orders him out.

Gabriel doesn’t _sulk_. He takes the cooldown break De Luca suggested oh so kindly with just one threat of being sent to New Canton without Jack.

He spends the first day with Jack in the field at the Training Area, giving pointers to newbies and catching up with his Runners.

The second day he hits up the kitchens for extra work and tries to sneak back into the comms room with some bullshit about bringing Yao lunch.

De Luca is not amused. She does, however, take the baked apples without giving Gabriel marching orders to New Canton.

Dr. Myers passes him later and tells him that Jack is doing fine. Gabriel tries not to think of how missions associated with the good doctor tend to go FUBAR.

Gabriel forces himself to keep busy, hitting up the library and hospital for any odd jobs. Despite the appreciation, he hasn’t felt this useless since he fucked up his knee on that supposedly routine run.

He wonders if that hadn't happened, if he could still be in the field, if he would be on this run with Jack.

Gabriel can't bring himself to regret saving that kid from the Dedlocks. Shit happens and he knows he got off lightly considering the pack of zoms chasing them. If it wasn't for Ana's coverfire and Jack compensating up for a defective noisemaker by _singing_ to draw the zombies away...well, hopefully Ana would have done the right thing and shot him before he turned.

Gabriel knows what it’s like out there and while Yao is...good at the job, Gabriel feels better when he can guide Jack and his Runners through the zombie-infested British countryside.

He never thought he’d know anywhere as well as his old neighborhood but after three years of and then directing Runners, there are routes Gabriel could do in his sleep.

And Gabriel has only lost one Runner unlike—

No.

He can’t think like that. Gabriel knows the limitations of being stuck in the comms shack all too well these days.

Runner 5 is a decent partner at least, Gabriel reasons. Gabriel works well with them—both as a Runner and now Operator—and while they don’t follow Gabriel’s lead as seamlessly as Jack does, Runner 5 is a quick thinker and a decent shot.

Problem is both Jack and Runner 5 are willing to do whatever stupid plan gets the mission done.

When dusk arrives on the sixth day, Gabriel tires of spending his day around people only to lie down restlessly in an empty bed.

The orchard is quiet this close to nightfall. Jack likes to come out here, lies out on the ground and stares up at the numerous stars and scant lightning bugs, or as Brits had insisted on calling them, _glowworms_.

The trees, the sky, it’s all very pretty and for a moment, Gabriel can pretend he isn’t in the middle of the Abel Township, carefully walled in to protect against waves of the undead.

But this dark quiet is still alien to him and without Jack to talk about how the star-filled sky reminded him of home and fill the night with stories of a farm town in the middle of nowhere Indiana, Gabriel can’t avoid thinking about how overwhelmingly empty this place is.

Abel is one of the bigger settlements these days, sure, but a couple hundred people holds no comparison to LA.

Gabriel has never been so pissed as that moment the adrenaline started to come down and he realized the fucking zombie apocalypse happened while he was on vacation.

He had drawn out _plans_ starting from middle school, had exit strategies to get out of LA, to get his family to better grounds—

He had all these dumbass daydreams of apocalypses—zombies, aliens, robots, rogue AI, anything else that crossed his stupid teenage brain—could actually have been _useful_ on homeground.

And Gabriel was thousands of miles away when it actually happened.

He misses home dearly, for all the zombie-ridden mess LA must be. In this empty quiet, all he can think of is how his mamas and sisters must be faring—

“Thought you might be here, boss!” Jesse shouts across the orchard as he approaches.

Gabriel can never decide if Jesse’s particular accent is familiar enough to be comforting or nearly as grating as Jack calling soda “pop.”

When Jesse finally gets to the tree Gabriel is sitting under, he practically doubles over, gasping for air.

Kid waste his breath like that.

Gabriel raises an eyebrow. “Thought you weren’t interested in being a Runner.”

“I ain’t stupid enough,” Jesse makes little, aborted gasps for breath as if he’s trying (and failing) to hide how winded he is. “But thought you’d want to know your blondie is almost back.”

Gabriel stands up, dropping the salvaged rope he had been untangling. He turns in the

“Hey, the docs said you aren’t supposed to be running!”

The docs say a lot of things, like Gabriel needs to know putting weight on his busted knee at more than walking pace is a stupid idea.

this is going to fucking hurt later.

He doesn’t _care_. Not right now.

Bum knee aside, Gabriel is one of the first to make it to the gates, just in time to hear the alarms and watch the metal doors rise. Take _that_ , Yao.

The sirens ring and Gabriel can feel his heart rate jump. To a Runner, even a “retired” one, the sound is a call to arms as well as a welcome home.

The guards glance at him as he approaches. He keeps several yards away from the gates themselves and gets friendly nods. Gabriel nods back; he may no longer be a Runner but he’s not a _civilian._

He watches doors rise slowly. Time feels it slows, making each inch a frustration.

And then Gabriel sees them on the mowed path.

Jack and Runner 5 jog through the gates. No cover fire needed, with no other major mission, there are enough other Runners free to perform perimeter sweeps multiple times a day. (Which is lucky, Ana’s not up there watching out for his boy this time. New Canton had to borrow her _this week_ , of fucking course.)

The doors go down faster and Gabriel tries to find peace in that, a sign that Jack is finally and truly back in Abel.

He appears whole and unbitten but Gabriel feels breath pause as Jack leans against Runner 5 when the guard approaches for routine potential post-exposure questioning.

Jack’s not the biggest man Gabriel knows—Reinhardt easily wins that contest—but supported by the much smaller Runner 5, he looks big, stretched out and worn.

Jack has always been built of lean muscle in a way that betrays a history of manual labor long before the world went to shit but even with a Runner’s rations, he’s thin in a way that makes Gabriel’s heart ache.

They don’t starve here, not like the stories Gabriel has heard from other survivors but one day, Gabriel tells himself, he’s going to take this stupid white boy home to his mamas’ and they aren’t leaving the kitchen until his abuela is satisfied they’ve eaten enough.

Gabriel walks over, ignoring the ache already settling from his knee to hip, and feels a little relief as the guard lets him. Up close, Jack’s face only betrays a hint of tiredness as he responds to the guard’s questions and Runner 5 wouldn’t just stand around if Dr. Myers was needed to address a major injury or, worse, a bite.

Gabriel makes a _gimme_ gesture at Runner 5 who snorts and pushes Jack forward.

“Hey!” Jack shouts, hands grasping on Gabriel’s shoulders as Gabriel curls his arms around Jack’s waist. There’s a moment of something Gabriel can’t put a name to—surprise maybe? Relief?—and then Jack’s Tough Runner facade melts away. 

“Hey,” Gabriel repeats back in a softer tone.

Jack leans in close, his rough check rubbing against Gabriel’s. “Missed you.”

Gabriel pulls him closer only to freeze when Jack makes a pained gasp.

“Careful! I think I bruised—Not broke!—my ribs.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrow. “How?”

Jack and Runner 5 share a glance. Runner 5 shrugs.

“It’s classified,” Jack says, speaking words they both are well familiar with. “You know I can’t tell you.”

Oh Gabriel knows.

Knows Jack means _I’ll tell you later._

“Fuck, I’m just glad to have you back.” And Gabriel means it. He leans in, kissing Jack first on the forehead and then moving down—

“There you are, 5! And 76.” Yao says from behind them. “Good to see you home.”

Jack laughs against his lips, quiet enough that only Gabriel can hear.

Gabriel pulls away, catching Jack’s arm and tugging him along. “Let’s get out of here before Yao gets all awkward with 5.”

He doesn’t pay attention to Yao’s protesting—but neither does Yao for long as he stops to follow Runner 5’s signing.

“You don’t get to talk, boss,” Jesse says, far closer than he needs to be. And out of breath again; the kid really isn’t made for running. “You and 76–“

“What about me?” Jack asks, deep voice amused.

Jesse blinks as if surprised Jack is actually there and from the blush, remembers his crush. “Ah…”

Gabriel chuckles and continues to lead Jack into Abel. “Come on Jack, I’m sure I have some of the good painkillers left.”

“I’m fine,” Jack says as he follows.

Jack’s _back_ and suddenly that’s not enough. His mental checklist grows rapidly, everything from kissing Jack stupid to getting into whatever secrets the Ministry is keeping. Gabriel takes a deep breath, forcing the list to pause and selects one task he knows is important to all returning Runners: hot food. “The kitchens might still have baked apples.”

“It’s that time of year already?” Jack says with a grin and now he’s the one pulling Gabriel along. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Slow down, you fucked up your ribs,” Gabriel reminds but he returns the grin and ignores the twinge in his knee to keep pace.

As long as Jack comes back to him, Gabriel can put up with anything this shitty apocalypse can throw at them.

Even waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> Could also be titled "1.8K words of Gabriel overthinking things and not really being okay with being out of the field."
> 
>  
> 
> ~~I need to explore this AU more sometime, too many things amuse me like Deadlocks and Dedlocks, Moira and Zenobia, and far too many things to play with.~~


End file.
